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The Water Cooler, Scuttlebutt, Chit Chat Thread

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The Water Cooler, Scuttlebutt, Chit Chat Thread

Old 12-20-19, 01:31 PM
  #4276  
burnthesheep
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Early 2020 looks busy. Crit 01Feb and 08Feb, TT 02Feb, RR 29th

These are close enough I'll have to make the early season my road season stuff. After this stuff is further out usually. I'll probably do the entire TT series, it's a lot closer this time and I have a rental house in the city they're doing the TT's in anyway so can go check on that when I head out there.
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Old 12-20-19, 01:44 PM
  #4277  
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Supposed to do 3 hours tomorrow with SS stuff thrown in there. We are currently in an "atmospheric river" so...Zwift?
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Old 12-20-19, 06:09 PM
  #4278  
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There is a partially paved fire road that starts a couple blocks from home and climbs up to 4000 feet with a lot of 10%. Once on top of the ridge there is a 2 mile section where it gets cold, well, cold for SoCal. It was in the 30s up there Wednesday, chilly while descending when you are sweaty.
Anyway today I was coming home from a short ride and a young couple was getting ready to head up that climb and they flagged me down to ask if I knew about it. The guy saw it on a map and wanted to try it. He had an old mtb but he girlfriend had a mixte type mtb with a tractor type saddle. They had 1 bottle each and shorts with no extra layers. I suggested they ride around the park but they started up the climb. Hope their brakes work.
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Old 12-20-19, 07:47 PM
  #4279  
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Originally Posted by big john
There is a partially paved fire road that starts a couple blocks from home and climbs up to 4000 feet with a lot of 10%. Once on top of the ridge there is a 2 mile section where it gets cold, well, cold for SoCal. It was in the 30s up there Wednesday, chilly while descending when you are sweaty.
Anyway today I was coming home from a short ride and a young couple was getting ready to head up that climb and they flagged me down to ask if I knew about it. The guy saw it on a map and wanted to try it. He had an old mtb but he girlfriend had a mixte type mtb with a tractor type saddle. They had 1 bottle each and shorts with no extra layers. I suggested they ride around the park but they started up the climb. Hope their brakes work.
I doubt they made it far enough up for their brakes or clothing to matter much.
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Old 12-20-19, 11:25 PM
  #4280  
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Originally Posted by Flatballer
I doubt they made it far enough up for their brakes or clothing to matter much.
I'm sure you're right.
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Old 12-23-19, 04:04 PM
  #4281  
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Originally Posted by Hermes
I saw in a FB post that the Amgen Tour of California, Chico Stage Race, Tucson Bicycle Classic and San Dimas Stage Race were canceled in 2020 with Zwift eSports, gravel events, and high school MTB increasing. Amgen ToC cancelled? WTF. No explanation was given other than challenges and looking for a business model that works.
Money makes the world go around
The world go around
The world go around
Money makes the world go around
It makes the world go 'round

A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound
A buck or a pound
A buck or a pound
Is all that makes the world go around
That clinking, clanking sound
Can make the world go 'round

Money, money, money, money
Money, money, money, money
Money money money...

Chico promoter is still doing races, just not a stage race. Madera is still on, so is Bloom and several others in that corner of the world. And the Reno Wheelmen still have their Twilight stage race
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Old 12-23-19, 07:25 PM
  #4282  
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Originally Posted by Racer Ex
Money makes the world go around
The world go around
The world go around
Money makes the world go around
It makes the world go 'round

A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound
A buck or a pound
A buck or a pound
Is all that makes the world go around
That clinking, clanking sound
Can make the world go 'round

Money, money, money, money
Money, money, money, money
Money money money...

Chico promoter is still doing races, just not a stage race. Madera is still on, so is Bloom and several others in that corner of the world. And the Reno Wheelmen still have their Twilight stage race
I hope you're doing well.
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Old 12-24-19, 10:09 PM
  #4283  
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Originally Posted by Racer Ex

snip

Chico promoter is still doing races, just not a stage race. Madera is still on, so is Bloom and several others in that corner of the world. And the Reno Wheelmen still have their Twilight stage race
Finally drove up the hill and did the Boca race this year. Enjoyed it and will try to get up there again next year. Fun course, but helps to know it though.
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Old 12-25-19, 08:37 AM
  #4284  
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Happy holidays everyone. I hope you're spending them however you prefer (with family, without family, just nuclear family, alone on your bike, whatever).
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Old 12-25-19, 12:38 PM
  #4285  
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Originally Posted by big john
I hope you're doing well.
It's been a tough couple of years, but I seem to be out of the tunnel. Hope you are well too. Merry Christmas!
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Old 12-25-19, 12:39 PM
  #4286  
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Originally Posted by hack
Finally drove up the hill and did the Boca race this year. Enjoyed it and will try to get up there again next year. Fun course, but helps to know it though.
It's challenging if you're a non-climber
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Old 12-25-19, 06:47 PM
  #4287  
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Originally Posted by Racer Ex
It's been a tough couple of years, but I seem to be out of the tunnel. Hope you are well too. Merry Christmas!
Pretty well. I retired in April so there's that. Merry Christmas!
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Old 12-26-19, 06:09 PM
  #4288  
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KOMs ain’t ****, but if you get mine while paceline working you damn better take it by more than a single lousy second lazy slob. Pshhhh.

Lol.
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Old 12-30-19, 01:31 PM
  #4289  
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Originally Posted by burnthesheep
KOMs ain’t ****, but if you get mine while paceline working you damn better take it by more than a single lousy second lazy slob. Pshhhh.

Lol.
I almost never take Strava seriously, but I've been chasing a few special ones that are held by grouprides. I'm 28 seconds off of a 17-min segment that's held by two guys that tag-teamed it at a 350W average. I take a huge amount of pleasure in sending people "Uh Oh" emails that cause them to call their friends and be like "dude, you remember that segment we crushed? Well, I hope you're feeling frisky..."

Doubly delicious when I take segments held by E-bikes.

I had a conversation with a group of guys in the place I used to live about Strava (I hold hundreds of KOM's in that area). I told them there are only 5 KOM's that I hold dear out of everything I own, and I only value them because of how many grouprides specifically targeted them and (luckily) narrowly missed.
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Old 12-31-19, 11:28 PM
  #4290  
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Originally Posted by Cypress
I almost never take Strava seriously,...
So 3-4 years off having a junior, I still think Strava is better than the USAC race winning when USAC handicaps juniors with gear restrictions. I know I'm a broken record on this but a Strava KOM on a significant segment is more "real" and lasts longer than any domestic race that handicaps the kids. If you win a Cat1 / Pro race with a junior, on junior gears while you raced on the big gears - I don't think you really won.
But not like there are many races these days, just Strava is less burdened with baggage and just reports the facts. I'm rather a fan of that.
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Old 01-01-20, 12:03 AM
  #4291  
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Originally Posted by burnthesheep
KOMs ain’t ****, ...

Lol.
I hear more chat around KOMs at races, than who won the last race.
Yea, parent thing I guess, but I rather like these collectibles more than podiums. I like both, but these are more pure.
Age 16


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Old 01-01-20, 09:31 AM
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Happy New Year.
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Old 01-01-20, 09:37 AM
  #4293  
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Koms are cool if you think cycling is only about who can exercise the hardest.

How about strategy and skill?
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Old 01-01-20, 09:41 AM
  #4294  
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Originally Posted by wktmeow
Koms are cool if you think cycling is only about who can exercise the hardest.

How about strategy and skill?
Between Zwift and Strava, it seems to be going this way.
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Old 01-01-20, 09:46 AM
  #4295  
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Happy new year.
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Old 01-02-20, 10:06 AM
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Originally Posted by wktmeow
Koms are cool if you think cycling is only about who can exercise the hardest.

How about strategy and skill?
Given that line of reasoning, is there a difference between someone going for a Strava KOM and that same person trying to win a time trial?

I'd argue that a fair amount of the KOM's I hold took a good bit of strategy and skill. Just like racing, you gotta know where to apply power to optimize your advantages while also knowing/using your strengths to gain time over others.

When I hit group rides in the areas that I've "gone hunting" in, I always have people picking my brain over how I got the crown and how they can ride it faster. Not only is it a great ice-breaker for riders that don't know each other, it's game theory, which gives cycling more depth as a sport. As racers, we are constantly looking for spare seconds. Bringing a massive social group together to chat about how to find those spare seconds both on and off the bike has ZERO downsides.
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Old 01-02-20, 10:18 AM
  #4297  
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Originally Posted by Doge
I hear more chat around KOMs at races, than who won the last race.
Yea, parent thing I guess, but I rather like these collectibles more than podiums. I like both, but these are more pure.
Age 16

Wait, WHAT.
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Old 01-02-20, 10:21 AM
  #4298  
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At least in a time trial all competitors have to face roughly the same conditions. Even the most finely tuned KOM pacing strategy can be beat by waiting for a really favorable wind. I wouldn't call that a more pure form of racing. Time trials are fun, but I still consider mass start racing much more interesting in the sense that winning depends on both strategy and fitness, and the strongest rider isnt always the most likely to win. Maybe I'm biased because I'm very rarely the strongest rider in any given field.
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Old 01-02-20, 10:40 AM
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Originally Posted by wktmeow
At least in a time trial all competitors have to face roughly the same conditions. Even the most finely tuned KOM pacing strategy can be beat by waiting for a really favorable wind. I wouldn't call that a more pure form of racing. Time trials are fun, but I still consider mass start racing much more interesting in the sense that winning depends on both strategy and fitness, and the strongest rider isnt always the most likely to win. Maybe I'm biased because I'm very rarely the strongest rider in any given field.
Just like in racing, the strongest rider doesn't always have the Strava KOM for the exact reason you listed. I've lost a few KOM's to "slower" riders surfing 35 mph tailwinds. I don't get upset when it happens, as that's just the nature of the game and it must have been stupid amounts of fun for that rider.

Now, if that rider earnestly started rubbing it in my face...I'd do everything in my power (wattage joke lol) to go out in "perfect" conditions to make the time absolutely unreasonable. That hasn't happened yet though. It seems like almost nobody wants an invisible asterisk next to their name at the top.

Every back-and-forth I've had in Strava has been lighthearted and fun. Even with riders I've never met. Just a group of people all looking for those precious seconds.
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Old 01-02-20, 12:43 PM
  #4300  
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Originally Posted by Cypress
Wait, WHAT.
dude right? I hope that was a group ride.
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